ed, it is piled up in the fields without any defence from the weather, until the husbandman finds it convenient to thrash it out. The grain, after winnowing, is stowed away in unbaked earthen jars or baskets of twigs, in round huts, with their floors elevated a foot or two above the surface of the ground to exclude the damp ness. But, with all the fertility of the soil and favors of the climate, agricultural knowledge stands at a very low point in Bengal, as in other parts of India. No sufficient care is bestowed, either on the selection of grain or the best time of sowing. The implements are few and imperfect, the rotation of crops little understood, no manure is applied, except to the sugar-cane, mulberry, poppy, and tobacco. The dung of animals is not collected, but used for fuel. The country is without enclosures, and the roads are usually in wretched order. The principal vegetable productions, beside grain and pulse, are tobacco, cotton, indigo, mulberry, poppy, plantains, pumelos or shaddocks, limes, oranges, pomegranates, pineapples, bananas, the banian tree, the cocoanut, which supplies a kind of cordage made from the fibres of its palm, sugar-cane, which thrives exceedingly well, the betel vine, which produces the betel pepper, mangoes, date trees, the areca, &c. The potato has been introduced and cultivated with much success. There are also many kinds of flourishing shrubs, which either grow wild or thrive with very little care. The most important of the commercial crops are those of tobacco, the opium poppy, sugar, indigo, cotton, and silk. Coffee has also been successfully introduced, and tea is largely cultivated in the districts of Assam. Immense plantations have been stocked with tea-plants from China, and laborers imported from the green and black tea countries of the celestial empire. Mr. Robert Fortune's efforts in this respect have been worthy of all praise, and there is every reason to believe that the cultivation of tea will annually increase, and become a very important item in the Indian revenue. Tobacco was not known in India until after the discovery of America, but is now grown everywhere. Sugarcane, on the contrary, has been cultivated in Bengal from remote antiquity, and there is now scarce a district in which it is not grown; it is cheaply manufactured, and now enters English markets on the same terms with that of the West Indies. Indigo is a very important article, of which Bengal supplies about fivesixths of the production of the whole world. Cotton is abundantly raised, but the demand is equal to the supply, and it cannot at present at all compare with the product of the American states. Silk has been produced in Bengal for many centuries, the knowledge of it having doubtless been introduced from China. The raw material was at first carried to Europe, into Greece and Italy, from India, and the first silk manufactories known in Europe were established in Greece, by the emperor Justinian. Wild silk-worms are found in countries border

ing on Bengal, from which a coarse species of silk is produced, but by no means equal to that of the domesticated insect. The cultivation of the poppy is entirely a government monopoly, contracts being annually formed with poppy growers to sow certain lands with the plant, and deliver the opium to the government, at a set price. The plants are sown in November, arriving at maturity by Feb. 2. The opium produced in Bengal alone, amounts to the sum of $10,000,000 to $15,000,000 annually.-Wild animals abound, such as boars, bears, wolves, jackals, foxes, hyenas, leopards, panthers, tigers, lynxes, hares, deer, zebras, wild buffaloes, antelopes, apes and monkeys, and elephants, the last of which are domesticated in great numbers, and prove eminently useful for military and civil purposes. The royal Bengal tiger is best known of all the untamable animals of India; it appears to have been familiar to the ancient Romans, and is described by Seneca as Gangetica tigris. It is of an immense size, and such prodigious strength that it can readily carry off a bullock. The native horses of Bengal are thin and ill-shaped, but those in use among the rich natives and the Europeans are of Persian or Arab stock, and are valued highly. The breeds of cattle and hogs are poor; goats and sheep thrive better, but the latter are small and lank, with coarse, thin, and hairy wool. Game, poultry, and various kinds of water-fowl, are found in the greatest abundance; ducks of many varieties of excellence, and the common domestic fowls of Europe, run wild in the jungles. Crows, kites, and sparrows, are found about the dwellings of the Bengalese, enjoying the utmost freedom in security. A large species of stork is known as the "adjutant," from its military strut and erect attitude, which walks about at its ease and devours quantities of snakes, toads, and lizards. Among the feathered tribes, many of the birds are distinguished by splendid plumage. The inland commerce of Bengal is chiefly carried on with Agra, Thibet, and Delhi. The principal articles of trade are silks, calicoes, muslins, saltpetre, opium, indigo, sugar, gum lac, and a variety of piece goods, nearly all of which now pass through the hands of the East India company. Grain from the corn countries, and salt from other districts, form the general articles of trade in the hands of the natives. Cotton is imported from the western provinces, and an exchange of tobacco and betel nut carried on. Part of this merchandise is transported by land carriage, but by far the greater part by water. The roads are generally in bad condition, and the noble causeways formerly constructed by the native princes have fallen into ruin. Such disadvantages are, however, amply compensated by the facilities of water communication, the numerous branches of the Ganges and Bramapootra being so completely diffused over a level country, that scarcely any village in the province is more than 20 miles remote from a navigable river. The wood, salt, and provisions of many millions of people,

of the lower ranks go almost naked, wearing simply a cloth around the loins; those of higher order use turbans, and long dresses of white cotton. The female costume consists of loose drawers, a coat, and a mantle of cotton cloth worn over the shoulders. Their heads are uncovered, and their hair is worn fastened up behind with a profusion of ornaments, which they are fond of scattering over every part of their bodies. The 'character of the Bengalese cannot be rated high; the males are cunning, deceitful, and treacherous, and the women generally divide their time between their passion for dress, and their fondness for intrigue.-The English established their commercial intercourse with Bengal at a very early period, and made their first settle ment on the Ganges about the middle of the 17th century. This was at Hoogly, about 26 miles above Calcutta. By means of their fort and armed force, they protected their vessels which came down from Patna from the demands of the rajabs, and in the beginning of the 18th century they obtained from Feroksere, the great grandson of Aurungzebe, a firman, exempting them from all duties, and this was regarded as the company's commercial charter. From the year 1742, they repelled frequent attacks from the Mahratta princes and the nabobs of Bengal, but the famous battle of Plassey, gained in 1757 by Lord Clive, with 3,000 men, only 900 of whom were Europeans, over the nabob's army of 40,000 foot and 15,000 horse with 50 pieces of cannon, laid the foundation of the British empire in India. In 1765 the English assumed the entire government of the province, receiving from the Mogul, Shah Aulem, a grant of the entire revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, on condition of paying him 26 lacs of rupees, amounting to about $1,300,000, per annum. The power of the company in Bengal, as in other parts of India, has been almost wholly gained by usurpation and violence, and there is much difference of opinion whether the condition of the natives has been improved under its rule. It has been contended with much force by able writers of England as well as other countries, that the people have been crushed and not elevated by their AngloSaxon masters. That there has long existed a great deal of ill-feeling which needed but some slight provocation to display itself, is proved by the extraordinary mutiny which began in 1857, among the native regiments of Bengal, and which will be fully treated under the title HINDOSTAN.

BENGAL, BAY OF (Lat. Gangeticus Sinus), a gulf of the Indian ocean, embraced between the peninsula of Hindostan on the W. and the coast of Lower Siam, Tenasserim, Pegu, and Aracan on the E. With the exception of the Arabian sea, it is the largest indentation on the southern coast of Asia, its width at the broadest part, i. e. from Cape Comorin at the S. extremity of Hindostan, to the same latitude on the coast of Siam, being 1,400 m. From this point it continues of nearly uniform width to

Cape Negrais, in lat. 16° 1′ N., whence it contracts until the opposite coasts are but 250 m. apart, and terminates in an inlet or indentation of its N. shore, about 50 m. wide and thickly studded with islands. All that part of the bay lying south of the parallel of Cape Negrais is distinguished by some hydrographers as the sea of Bengal. It receives the waters of many important rivers, among which are the Ganges, Bramapootra, Hoogly, Irrawaddy, Godavery, and Kistnah. The tide in some places rises at times 70 or 80 feet. On the W. coast there are no good harbors, and no soundings at the distance of 30 m. from land, but on the E. side there are several safe ports, and soundings within 2 miles of the shore. The S. W. monsoon begins to blow on the W. or Coromandel coast about the end of March or early in April. In June it acquires its greatest strength and regularity; in September it subsides; and in October the N. E. monsoon commences, from which time till Dec. 1, navigation in the gulf is fraught with great danger. During the prevalence of both these winds a heavy surf rolls along the entire western coast, rendering access to the rivers extremely difficult.

BENGALEE, or GAURA LANGUAGE, THE, is one of the 5 modern languages of Hindostan, which are derived from the ancient Sanscrit. Its name is derived from Banga, the Sanscrit name of the country, with the Arabic article al suffixed; the whole being corrupted into the present form. Gaura is derived from Gaur, the name of the ancient metropolis. It is spoken by 25 millions of British subjects, of whom about one-fourth speak also some other dialect. It extends over the regions on the lower Ganges, from Patna down to its delta; being purest in the province of Bengal, and in the eastern regions. One of its dialects, the Maithila, or Tirutiya, is spoken in the Sircar Tirhut, as far northward as the Nepaulese Himalaya. The Bengalee name of the country is Anggo. This language consists of an aborigi nal basis, with which a much greater portion of Sanscrit and Pracrit has been admixed than with that of any of its cognates; with a considerable addition of Afghan, Persian, Arabic, Portuguese, Malay, and English words. Although the Sanscrit element predominates, as regards the words, the grammatical forms of the language differ more from Sanscrit than the forms of the Greek, Latin, Gothic, and Persian; most of the flexions of nouns and verbs having been lost, and their places being supplied by auxiliary words, and by circumlocution. Notwithstanding this, it admits, in the higher style, many of those forms, which are intelligible only to more cultivated persons. There are no forms of gender, and only few feminine words are formed by the suffixes i and ini. There are 7 cases made by suffixes-nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, and vo cative. The plural of nouns is made by suffixing dig to the genitive singular. It delights in compound words, formed especially by means of

a sort of past participle; elegant Sanscrit compounds being unidiomatic. There is but one conjugation, whose radical is the imperative. Compound tenses are made by the auxiliaries, meaning to do, to be, to become. Only the 3 verbs meaning to give, to come, and to go, are irregular. The singular and plural of verbs are often confounded; the plural with a singular noun denoting respect, the singular with the plural noun being used in speaking to inferiors. There are 3 simple moods, infinitive, indicative, imperative; 4 others being periphrastic, the potential, optative, inchoative, and frequentative. Any verb is conjugable negatively by the suffix na. The system of writing is that of the devanagari (divine city's writing) of the Sanscrit language, but the forms of letters are more broken and twisted. B and v, however, are written by one character, and the characters of the sounds, s, z, sh, are interchangeable.-No book written in Bengalee appeared before A. D. 1500. After the settlement of Moslems in Gaur, the Voisyas and Soodras (agricultural and servile castes) began to study Persian, to gain a livelihood, and were well rewarded by the conquer⚫ors. Historical works appeared about 330 years ago, written by the followers of Chaitanya, the founder of the Voishnava sect. Several religious essays were written soon after. A Bramin abridged the Mahābhārata; Kirtivasa translated the Ramayana. Both are ancient Sanscrit epic works. Except the stories of Krishna's study, the rules of arithmetic in verse, and a few other elementary books, the vernacular literature was very poor, until Rajah Krishnachandra Roy Bahadoor restored Hindoo literature in India, by bringing in pundits and endowing schools. His endeavors bore ample fruit, and many Bramins now earn money by literary mendicity, for the sake of supporting pupils. Owing to the abundance of Sanscrit books, and the prejudice of most Bramins against the Bengalee, this was neglected until 1800, when the college of Fort William was founded, and the study of Bengalee was made imperative and collateral to the Sanscrit, Dr. W. Carey being the first professor of both. Among others, the head pundit of the college, Mrityunjoy Vidyalankar, was distinguished in promoting his native literature. Many Bengalee works have since been printed at Calcutta and Serampore. The first native newspaper was published by Mr. Marshman at Serampore, 1818. Considerable change has been made since in the diction and composition of this language, which continues to be enlarged and ennobled, by being capable of borrowing indefinitely from the venerable Sanscrit mother. Gilchrist, H. P. Forster, Carey, W. Morton, Hunter, Mohun Persaud, Tahur, Tarachand Chukruburti, Sir G. C. Haughton, have published Bengalee-English dictionaries and vocabularies, and Ram Comul Sen has translated Todd's edition of Johnson's English dictionary into Bengalee.

BENGALEE YEAR, one of the solar years of India, apparently dating from the Hegira

(the Bengalee year 1264 commencing in April, 1857); but starting from the Mohammedan lunar year apparently about the middle of our 16th century. See CHRONOLOGY.

BENGAZI, a town of Tripoli, province of Barca; pop. 2,500. It is on the site of the ancient Berenice, and is a mean Arab town in a state of great filth and wretchedness. The remains of the ancient city lie all around a little below the surface. There was formerly a good harbor, but a reef of rocks at the entrance prevents its easy access, and the accumulations of sand deposit have nearly choked it up.

BENGEL, JOHANN ALBRECHT, a German Lutheran theologian of the 18th century, born at Winnenden, Würtemberg, June 24, 1687, died Dec. 2, 1752. He entered the theological college of Tübingen in 1703. He distinguished himself as a Greek scholar, and early exhibited a predilection for critical study. He began his career as a theological writer by a treatise on the holiness of God. He was the author of several very important works, but that on which his fame as a scholar principally depends is his edition of the Greek Testament, which was published in 1734. It produced a sensation in the theological world, and was one of the most valuable contributions to theological literature which the century afforded. No German theologian has infused more of his spirit and sentiments into English theology, if we except Luther, than Bengel. His edition of the Greek Testament, preceding those of Wetstein, Griesbach, Lachmann, and Scholz, was severely criticized by many eminent scholars, such as Michaelis, Baumgarten, and others. Bengel also wrote a work on the Apocalypse, in which production, one writer says, he exhibited an enthusiasm akin to the inspiration of the revelator himself. He considered the Apocalypse as the key to all prophecy, and believed that any right exposition of it would unseal the entire future history of the world up to the end of time. He thought he discovered in the mystical figures of the seer of Patmos that the world would end in 1836. He was occupied to the last in his critical studies, and died almost with his proof-sheets in his hands.

BENGER, ELIZABETH OGILVY, an English authoress, born in Wells, 1778, died Jan. 9, 1827. At the age of 18, the death of her father, a purser in the British navy, left her and her mother in very narrow circumstances. Six years later, she removed to London, where she became known to Campbell, the poet, Miss Joanna Baillie, Miss Aikin, Dr. Aikin, Dr. Gregory, Mrs. Elizabeth Hamilton and others. At the age of 13, she had shown her literary taste by writing a poem called "The Female Geniad," which was published. After her removal to London, she attempted prose fiction, poetry, and the drama, but without much success. It was as a biographer that she first obtained reputation. She produced in succession, memoirs of Mrs. E. Hamilton, of John Tobin, the dramatist, of Klopstock and his friends, of

Anna Boleyn, of Mary, queen of Scots, of Elizabeth, queen of Bohemia. When she died, she had made some progress in memoirs of Henry IV. of France. Miss Benger's style is clear, and her industry in collecting facts was undoubted. Her life was one long illness, and the very act of putting her thoughts upon paper was a painful task.

BENGUELA, a maritime country of western Africa, between lat. 9° and 16° S., and long. 12° and 17° E. The climate causes fever, the temperature varying from 94° to 105° F. in the shade. The surface is mountainous. The soil is well moistened and highly fertile. It produces fruits and European vegetables in abundance. The hills yield copper, sulphur, petroleum, and gold. Beasts of prey, including the lion and hyena, are numerous. The prevailing religion is fetichism. The government of the provinces is in the governor general of St. Paul de Loando. The Portuguese occupy some settlements in the province, beyond which their control does not actually extend. The chief of these is New Benguela, or St. Philip de Benguela, which is a seaport town, on the Atlantic, near the river Catumbella, lat. 12° 33′ 9′′ S., long. 13° 25' 2" E. It is the Portuguese capital of the district, and has a very commodious harbor. Its principal inhabitants are slave dealers. It has more ruined than inhabited houses, and has not a single place of instruction. Old Benguela, formerly the capital of the district, lies on the coast 132 miles N. N. E.

BENI, or VENI, a river of Bolivia, South America. It is formed by the junction of 2 small streams among the mountains lying S. E. of Lake Titicaca, thence it runs N. through the intendency of La Paz, curves to the N. E., and on reaching the confines of Brazil unites with the Mamore to form the Madeira. The surrounding country is level, very fertile, and inhabited by tribes of Indians, many of whom are in a barbarous state. Gold is found along its shores, and its waters afford fine fish.-A department of Bolivia, on the river Beni; its principal towns are Trinidad and Loreto. An English colonization company has received a grant of a large tract of land in this departinent. BENI-HASSAN, a village of central Egypt, on the Nile. In its vicinity are a number of sculptured grottos.

BENI-ISGUEN, a town of Algeria, in the Sahara desert. It is strongly built, surrounded by a wall with 5 towers.

BENI-SOCEF, or BENI-SOUEF, a town of Egypt, on the Nile. It has large cavalry barracks, cotton mills, and alabaster quarries, and is the entrepot for the produce of the rich valley of Fayoom. Pop. 5,000.

BENICIA, the former capital of California, shire town of Solano county; pop. in 1854, about 2,000. It is on the strait of Karquenas, which connects San Pablo and Suisun bays. The land, for about a mile from the town, is level or gently undulating. Beyond this tract are hills, and still further back a succession of hills and VOL. III.-9

valleys. The valleys are capable of cultivation, but in and around the town there is not even a tree to be seen. The houses are of wood, and present a neat and respectable appearance. While the legislature held its sessions here, there were several large hotels; commerce flourished, and building was carried on with great rapidity. The capitol is a handsome brick edifice, on the brow of a slope about half a mile from the river. The facings are of stone, brought from an inexhaustible quarry a short distance below the town. This stone is of a light brownish color, soft, easily wrought, and hardening with age or exposure. The harbor is capable of accommodating ships of the largest size. The works of the Pacific mail steamship company, with founderies and machine shops, a navy station, and an arsenal, are in the town or its environs. Several steamboat lines, running between San Francisco and Sacramento, touch at Benicia.

BENIN, a kingdom of western Africa, in upper Guinea, bordered by the bight of Benin. Its extent is not known. Its coast is thickly indented with estuaries of considerable expanse, and studded with isles. The surface is level for a certain distance inland. Further in it rises to an elevation of 2,000 and 3,000 feet. It is thickly wooded. The soil is profuse in all the vegetable growths of the tropics. It is laid out in square plots, which produce gums, plantains, maize, and sugar-cane of excel. lent quality. Cotton is indigenous. The gov. ernment is native, and the most revolting cruelty is characteristic of it and the people. Their religion is fetichism. Human sacrifices are numerous. The country is the seat of an extensive traffic in slaves, and of a limited trade in salt, palm oil, and blue coral.-Its capital is Benin, a large town, pop. 15,000, on the right bank of Benin river, one of the mouths of the Niger. Benin was formerly the great emporium for slaves. The palace of the king outside of the city is defended by walls. The houses of the city are built of clay, thatched with reeds, straw, or leaves. They are irregularly distributed. The city is a busy mart for cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, yams, cotton, ivory, European wares, and fruits. Belzoni, the celebrated traveller, died near this place in 1823.—BENIN RIVER, in the kingdom of Benin, upper Guinea, one of the mouths of the Niger. It discharges into the gulf of Guinea, 180 miles below Benin, and 120 N. N. W. of Cape Formosa. Lat. (entrance N. W. point), 5° 46' N., long. 5° 4' E. It is 2 miles wide at its mouth, across which is a bar, with 12 feet of water at spring tides. It divides into 2 branches, which have been explored to the distance of 50 and 70 miles respectively, the dense vegetation prevented further progress.-BIGHT OF BENIN, the northern portion of the gulf of Guinea, between the Slave coast and Calabar river. Many rivers empty into it, but the natural facilities for commerce are very limited.

BENIOWSKY, MORITZ AUGUST VON, an ad